Fixed
by almondina
Summary: Before settling in 1963, the Doctor takes his granddaughter Susan to another point in London's history. When she wanders off, she stumbles upon something she had never expected.


The girl screamed. Just once. Short and cut off. Followed by a loud crashing noise.

Susan paused and peered down the darkened alley. She glanced once at her grandfather's retreating form before she gathered her courage and crept towards the noise.

The walls of the buildings around her were brick and crumbling slightly, dirty and worn from lack of care. There was a metal fire escape at the back of one building. It had rusted and was missing a couple of lower rungs from the ladder. The back door was propped open with a cement block covered with black streaks from messily stubbed out cigarettes.

But Susan didn't notice any of that. Her eyes were focused on the still form lying where it had crashed into the metal garbage cans and piled up garbage bags. She looked frantically around for the assailant, but saw no one.

Susan gingerly touched the other girl's shoulder.

"Are you all right?" she asked awkwardly. The girl sighed heavily and opened her eyes. She stared blankly up at the sky.

"Yeah, 'm always alright," she replied in a dull tone. Susan furrowed her brow in concern.

"Would you like me to call a... oh what is it... oh yes, that's right, an ambulance?"

"No. No way. I can't do that." The girl seemed alarmed and sat up quickly. She grimaced. "Oh, that's gonna turn nasty," she muttered to herself, gingerly touching her back. Her eyes darted around the alley, looking for something.

"What happened?"

"I fell." The girl's answer was quick, sharp and definite.

"Fell? From where?"

"The fire escape. 's nothing. Doesn't matter."

"You fell from up there? Oh, then I must insist to get you to a hospital. You could be gravely injured!" Susan protested.

"I said no!" the girl snapped, turning to face Susan. Her furious expression softened a bit as their eyes met. "Listen, um -"

"Oh, how rude of me. My name is Susan."

"Right, Susan. Listen, you don't know me or what's goin' on here, so please, just leave it alone, ok?"

"But you really could be very injured. Your spine -"

"It doesn't matter, ok?" The girl sighed at Susan's shocked expression. "It just... it doesn't matter. I'm not goin' anywhere. I can't."

"Please, I insist you come with me! Otherwise I will be forced to get my grandfather and he will make you." Susan grabbed the girl's arm.

"Ge'off!" The girl winced and pulled her arm from Susan's grasp. She held it awkwardly, almost cradling it against herself.

"...what happened to your arm?"

"Like I said, 's nothing."

"I don't understand. Why..." Susan trailed off as she studied the girl more closely.

Heavy makeup caked onto a rather young face, Susan thought. No more than a year or two older than she herself was. The girl's right eye was puffy, though. The makeup seemed thickest there, but why...

As though she could feel the scrutiny, the girl shook her head slightly, her light brown hair drifting down to cover her face.

"Please, please leave."

"How did you fall?" Susan asked. A horrible, horrible thought had sprung to her mind. But no, it couldn't be that. The girl grimaced and suddenly grabbed Susan's hand.

"Listen to me," the girl said. Her tone was somewhere between commanding and pleading. "I know, ok. I know what you're thinking and yeah, you're probably right. But I can't leave. I just can't. So you need to go and I'll stay here and we'll both pretend we never say each other, ok?"

"I can help you!" Susan insisted. "Please, let me get Grandfather and we can help you."

"I'm not leavin'! I can't, ok? I have my reasons."

"Goin' somewhere?" The slightly slurred voice broke into their conversation. The girl practically shoved Susan away.

"No, 'course not," the girl scoffed. "This girl's just bein' nosy, 's all. C'mon and help me back upstairs, yeah?"

Susan looked from the bruised and damaged girl amongst the garbage to this new arrival. He was certainly handsome - dark brown hair that fell with a careless ease over bright blue eyes. But there was something in those eyes that made Susan shiver, something somewhere between the nonstop motion of his pupils and the deep dark circles under his eyes.

He turned and looked at her.

"I don't like nosy birds," he said flatly.

"Just leave her, 's not worth it" the girl protested. "Let's just go on back upstairs and you can have another hit, ok?"

"I think you've been tryin' to put ideas in her thick head," the man said, slowly walking towards Susan. "Won't work, y'know. She knows she's only ever gonna get outta here by stickin' with me. Sure as hell can't do it on her own." Susan swallowed nervously.

"I think humans can do anything they want, if they put their mind to it," she replied, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"You wanna see what I think?"

"Jimmy! Stop it!" the girl yelled.

"Oh, I'll deal with you inna minute!" Jimmy yelled over his shoulder. He pushed Susan back against the wall.

"Grandfather!" she yelled, praying that he hadn't wandered too far. That she hadn't stayed too far. Jimmy laughed and Susan scrunched up her eyes, waiting for the blow that was sure to come.

But it didn't.

Susan heard the man grunt and tumble to the ground. Yes, her grandfather must have come!

She opened her eyes.

The girl had somehow launched herself over and grabbed Jimmy by the legs, toppling him to the ground. Her face was contorted in pain and Susan could see blood on the back of her jeans.

"What the fuck?!" Jimmy yelled, kicking the girl off of him.

"She didn't do anything, Jimmy. Leave her alone. You don't need to bring her into this." The girl's voice was startlingly clear and strong given her state.

"Susan...?" the voice drifted down the alley.

"Grandfather! Help! Hurry!" Susan called back.

"Man, fuck this," Jimmy muttered. He kicked the girl once more. "You better watch it or you know what happens," he spat down at her.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," the girl muttered before she closed her eyes.

"Oh, Susan, my dear, what trouble have you found yourself into this time, hm?" was the last thing she heard before she completely lost consciousness.

She woke up in a hospital bed. As soon as she opened her eyes, Susan's pixie face sprung into view.

"Oh, you're awake! How wonderful!" Susan enthused.

"Where am I?"

"Grandfather and I brought you to the hospital."

"Yes, your mother is on her way." She turned to see an older gentleman sitting in a chair nearby.

"What? No. No, I can't. She doesn't know."

"Doesn't know what, hmm?" the man asked. "Ah well," he said before she could answer. "It doesn't really matter. She's on her way and then we can be on ours, right, my dear?"

"No, really, you can't. Jimmy'll -"

"I think, young lady, that you spend far too much time thinking about what this 'Jimmy' will do and far too little time thinking about what you can do."

"You don't understand. He..." She dropped her voice to almost a whisper. "He knows people, yeah? He said they'll kill me. And then my mum."

"He will do nothing of the sort," the man sniffed. "These types are all bluster. You'll see when you're my age. Or rather, I suppose, when you're older since you won't ever... anyway. Susan, I believe it's time to go."

"Yeah, thanks, I guess," she sighed, looking out the window. No one ever understood. She was all her mum had. And she was useless at everything else in life, so at least she could protect her mum. There was nothing else for her.

"Don't think like that," the man said suddenly as though he could read her thoughts. He walked over and looked down at her sternly. "Everyone is important. And you are far more than this horrible boy's punching bag. You saved my Susan. You ignored any further injury to yourself to help her. That is a very rare thing, my dear. You are a rare, wonderful young woman. And I promise you, if you would only go back to your mother's, everything will work out - and that boy will never bother you again."

She looked into his eyes and felt almost like she was falling into them. His expression was stern, but his eyes were kind and wise and beautiful. Something about them made her trust him down to the core of her being She felt his words fall over her like a blanket, holding her tightly and filling in the cracks and tears in her very soul.

He stepped back suddenly and looked at her oddly.

"Right then, best be off. Susan! Come along. We've interfered far too much already." He turned and strode out of the room.

"Do feel better," Susan said passionately, reaching over and grasping her hand tightly.

It wasn't until they were gone that she realized that she had never thanked them. She didn't even know the man's name.

It was shortly after Mickey stayed behind in the parallel world that he showed her. Part of him wanted her to know that he understood how she felt, how it felt to have someone stay behind.

Part of him just wanted her to know him a little bit more, to understand a bit more.

She couldn't believe that it even existed.

"You have a photo album," Rose stated, her eyes sparkling. "An honest-to-God photo album. Do you spend nights when I'm sleeping pasting in new pictures?" She grinned up at him. The Doctor bumped her shoulder playfully in response.

She turned the pages thoughtfully, her fingers tracing over the names as though she might absorb some of their stories.

"Oh my gosh, is that Sarah Jane?!" Rose exclaimed, grabbing the book from the table and peering at it excitedly. "She looks so young. How long ago was this? Like 20 years?"

"Ooh, no, more like... 30?" he rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't like thinking about it too much.

"Blimey, she's aged well. I need to ask her how she does it next time I see her," Rose laughed, turning the pages.

The Doctor watched the names and faces go by with a vague smile. He had to remember them as they were last he saw them. Staying the same forever, as though he could pop over and see them exactly as they were at any moment.

"Wait a second! You... you used this name in Scotland!" Rose jabbed a finger at Jamie's photo accusingly.

"Well, yeah, but honestly, I had to think of something. John Smith wouldn't exactly have brought to mind images of the highlands." Rose's eyes narrowed.

"There's a John Smith in here, isn't there."

"No!" the Doctor laughed. "I didn't even use that name when I first came here."

"Really?"

"No, it was... oh what was it... Ian Foreman!"

"Ian Foreman?! Where on Earth did that come from?"

"Oh, I didn't come up with it. Foreman was because we were hiding in a junk yard and she thought it fit. Ian was... I think because she had read James Bond, of all things, to prepare for staying on Earth, so she decided I should be named after Ian Fleming." The Doctor smiled fondly.

"...'she'?" Rose repeated, looking down at the book. "'s your wife, yeah? 'Cause I remember you were married before."

"No, it was my Susan." He looked away. Remember her smiling and shining, he thought as he composed himself. He glanced back and saw Rose's blatantly jealous expression. He laughed and took the book back. "Let me show you."

He flipped quickly to the last page of the book. For some reason the TARDIS had set it up so his most recent companions were always in the front. He pointed down at the image of his sweet girl with the short dark hair, her name in Gallifreyan handwritten below where the TARDIS had printed "Susan".

Oh, his sweet Susan.

Before he could hand the book back to show her, the TARDIS lurched forward a bit, knocking them both to the ground.

"I do believe we have landed somewhere, Dame Tyler."

"I do believe you are correct, Doctor Foreman," Rose grinned back. She leapt to her feet and tore out of the room. "Race ya," she called over her shoulder, her words echoing in the hall.

Something had been nagging at him. A little tendril of thought picking away at the back of his rather impressive mind.

It was only when he was a child's color pencil drawing that he had time to think about what it was.

"Rose, I have an errand I have to run!" the Doctor declared, throwing a lever and sending them off into the vortex.

"An errand? What, like we need milk again? You couldn't have eaten all of those bananas from Villengard already. You'd be sick. Even with your superior Time Lord tummy." Rose poked said superior Time Lord tummy with her index finger. The Doctor swatted her away playfully.

"No, I forgot to do something, oh... an embarrassingly long time ago, but no matter. Time machine, yeah?" he grinned at her as the ship landed with her ever gracefully shudder. "Here we are then! Hackney, London, United Kingdom, Earth, the Solar System!"

The Doctor had shucked his coat on and was next to the door when he realized that something was off. He turned and saw Rose frozen next to the console.

"Rose?"

"Y'know, I.. I think I'm a bit knackered. I'm just gonna stay and maybe lie down for a kip."

The Doctor walked back up the ramp. She wouldn't meet his eye.

"Rose, are you -"

"'s nothing. I just... I don't really like Hackney..." Rose set her jaw and looked up at him defiantly. "No. I'm coming."

"You don't have to. Honestly, it's just a bit of an errand I promised to do. I kind of have to sort of, you know, threaten someone. That's all."

"Go all Oncoming Storm? Oh, I can't miss that!" Rose linked her arm with his playfully and leaned her head against his shoulder a bit as they walked out the door.

The Doctor released her briefly to search through his pockets for the address. He didn't see her stiffen as she realized where she was. He didn't notice her reach blindly for his hand. He didn't see the blood drain from her face as the words came from behind them.

"Where the fuck you been."

Rose grabbed the Doctor's arm, her fingers clenching, digging into his flesh through the layers of fabric. He looked down at her in alarm.

"Rose, what -"

"Get yourself all tarted up and bring home some wanker? What, you turnin' tricks now? Like anyone'd pay for you."

The Doctor realized with a jolt that this... person behind them was talking to Rose. His Rose. His brave, beautiful, brilliant Rose. He gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes.

"Don't you dare touch me," Rose seethed before the Doctor had a chance to open his mouth. He felt her entire body shaking despite her confident words. "You're not even worthy to think about me, much less look at me after what you did."

"Oh, look who's bein' all high and mighty now. You little -"

"What did I just say?" Rose cut him off, advancing on him, her eyes narrowed. The man stepped back involuntarily.

From the outside, it must have looked almost comical, like a scene from a romantic comedy. This tiny, angry blonde woman advancing on a tall handsome man.

"Listen to me, Jimmy Stone," Rose spat the name out as she continued to advance. "If you ever, EVER darken my doorstep again, you will be sorry. If I ever see you in front of me again, you will be sorry. And if you EVER touch one hair on my mother's head, I will make your existence so miserable that you will wish that I would just kill you."

Jimmy opened his mouth to speak and Rose cut him off with a glare, a flash of gold streaking across her eyes. He tripped over the still spilled garbage cans in the alley and fell to the ground.

"Have I made myself clear?" she asked quietly. He looked over at the Doctor for some sort of desperate assistance. The Doctor gave a humorless snort of a laugh.

"Don't look at me. She's the one talking."

Jimmy scrambled up and ran into that crumbling brick building that Rose hated.

Rose didn't remember going back into the TARDIS. She didn't remember the Doctor gently leading her into the library and pulling her into his arms on the couch.

All she could remember was fear. Soul crushing, bone trembling fear.

People always told her that she really should go back and stand up to Jimmy. To tell him that he didn't have control anymore. They swore she'd feel better. Mickey even said he'd come with her so she'd feel safe.

Right. She'd literally had the most powerful being in creation beside her and she still was left shaking.

" 'm sorry," she mumbled finally. Her face was halfway under the Doctor's jacket, pressed into his chest, his shirt damp from tears she didn't remember crying.

He didn't answer for a moment.

"Rose," he finally said after taking a deep breath. "I can't figure out what you're apologizing for. And I am using all of my admittedly impressive Time Lord brain power."

He felt her face muscles move against him.

"Was that a smile?"

"no" He kissed the top of her head at her denial. His face hardened as his overactive mind began picturing his Rose younger, with her natural darker hair.

"Can I ask you something?" Oh, how he wanted to be wrong.

"Sure."

The Doctor reached his free hand into his pocket and pulled out the photo album. He turned to the last page and held it up so Rose could peer at it from the safety of his jacket.

"This is quite a long shot, but have you ever -"

"Oh my God, it's her," Rose breathed, grabbing the book and sitting up. "Susan..." She turned to look at the Doctor. "She travelled with you?"

"Yeah... yes, um, she travelled with me." Rose smiled and looked up at him.

"So we can go see her? Like with Sarah Jane, yeah?" Rose turned back to look at the book. "She saved my life. I never even thanked her."

"Yeah, I never really did either," the Doctor sighed. "We can't go see her, Rose, I'm sorry. I... she's gone."

"It wasn't just her. Her grandfather, the things he said to me... 's like I'd forgotten who I was and he just woke me back up - fixed me, y'know? Like..." Rose trailed off and traced her finger along the handwritten circular scrawl below the picture.

She looked up at him with a gleam of realization. She gently grasped his head and pulled him to eye level with her. She stared into his eyes, searching. She smoothed his hair back from falling into his face and looked deeply into his eyes. He felt like he was almost drowning in her. Her face broke into a smile and breathy laugh escaped her.

"It was you."


End file.
